Letters to the Editor: Republicans and their heathen counterparts

In May 2012 the West Covina City Council resumed telecasting its City council meetings on the Internet. The veiwers were very upset when they viewed the meetings being broadcast. Now council meetings were telecast with only one camera. Most speakers cannot be viewed and it is hard to follow the meetings on TV.

One citizen viewed 50 council meetings in different cities on the Internet and they had all multiple cameras. The West Covina broadcast with one camera was technically the worst telecast.

To have additional cameras, a part-time cameraman must be hired. A cameraman for 100 hours yearly could cost about $5,000. Also, city staff or vounteers could be used. So far, $30,000 has been spent for the first camera through West Covina's public education grants (pegs).

Covina paid $60,000 for two cameras. The West covina peg fund balance is $381,000 for additional video upgrades. This is one of the highest balances of the 50 cities surveyed. (Walnut has a $30,000 peg balance.)

Now West Covina has the worst telecast of 50 local cities. It is unconscionable that the council will not spend any additional funds, particularly when the city has $381,000 in restricted funds for Internet improvements.

Bruce Leinach

West Covina

`Bush's wars'

Letter writer Walt Haddock scolds Republicans for what he considers to be propaganda, but then goes on to speak of "Bush's wars." Now there's some propaganda for you.

For starters, the war in Afghanistan was a response to a radical Islamist terrorist attack that killed 3,000 innocent civilians on 9/11. Anyone who believes that doing nothing would have been appropriate is unworthy to be called a U.S. citizen.

And though President Obama criticized Bush's handling of this war, Obama ignored the counsel of his top military advisors on how to win. Rather than sending 40,000 to 80,000 troops for an effective surge, he waited several months and then sent just over 30,000, ensuring that a decisive victory would never be achieved, while squandering human lives (and taxpayer dollars).

As for the conflict in Iraq, this too had bipartisan support. But like most wars, it became the Republicans' fault when the going got tough. The goal, however, was a worthy one: setting up a free society with a just government, rather than leading from behind and allowing radical Islamic groups to take control.